Wii MotionPlus co-dev demonstrates the tech

by David Hinkle { Jul 31st 2008 at 11:28AM }

Ever since Wii MotionPlus was revealed, we've all been hopeful about what it can do for games. Sure, it's been revealed to be utilized in Red Steel 2 and is already used pretty effectively in Wii Sports Resort, but what about other things? Well, above, you can see the tech's co-developer, AiLive, demonstrate it through a "laser sword" game. Looks pretty sweet, if we may say so.

[Via Joystiq]

Tags: ailive, laser-sword, lightsaber, motionplus, wii-motionplus, wiimote

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dan @ Jul 31st 2008 12:06PM

Zelda: The Master Sword.

I know Zelda isn't a game traditionally known for its sword fighting, but Zelda 2 reinvented the gameplay slightly by making it a challenge to decide whether to stab high or stab low. A Zelda game that puts a bit more emphasis on sword fighting (or wand waving, or staff-fighting, or dagger stabbing) would be just as revolutionary as 2D --> 3D.

Do it.

Do it now.

sxp151 @ Jul 31st 2008 12:15PM

Good against remotes is one thing. Good against the living? That's something else.

Garu @ Jul 31st 2008 12:56PM

Good comment kid! That was one in a million!

Don't get cocky!

Ben @ Jul 31st 2008 12:13PM

they better incorporate this into the next Zelda game

Eddie @ Jul 31st 2008 12:15PM

When is THAT game coming out? Laser swords FTW!

Jay @ Jul 31st 2008 12:28PM

No, Laser Cats FTW!

meist3r @ Jul 31st 2008 12:21PM

I don't know, this still looks strange to me. I don't really believe that he is actually doing the stuff on screen. Why would they reset the animation every time they do a new move when the system is built to give a real-time representation. I think this will probably work like this in the final product but I'm not really convinced by weird looking tech demos that have some illogical flaws. And I hope so very much that the range will go far beyond six actions in the 3D space.

I still want it especially now that I've seen a cool sword demo. Imagine a WiiWare real time online sword fighting Kendo style game. I'd love to play something like that.

Cameron @ Jul 31st 2008 2:11PM

It's hard to explain why it resets but basically, but it's not a game it's a development tool, and that's just a demo of what it can do. I think that it resets after every significant movement to move on to the next demo, so he doesn't have to move over to the devkit or whatever and choose the next demo.

Of course it's real otherwise developers won't be able to use it lol.

lakitu @ Jul 31st 2008 2:25PM

its not fake
the pointer disapear on the screen when the wiimote is out of range for tracking (when the guy holds it down between each demo).

meist3r @ Jul 31st 2008 2:37PM

@lakitu: You gotta be shitting me. The whole purpose of that device is that you DONT NEED the sensor bar for tracking because the movement sensing right now is not precise enough to do that. It tracks the Wiimotes movement in 3D space. The sensor bar IR pointer is only needed for fine pointing. Your argument is completely laughable, in your logic the program would have to stop if your arm movement during a sword strike makes the pointer leave the screen ... which is ... like, every time oO

I think the stuff showing on screen is mostly pre-recorded to make a smooth demo. It's not like that hasn't been done before to sell a product.

SoshiKitai @ Jul 31st 2008 3:12PM

But you see, if you were to BELIEVE it were truly fully capable of doing so - the magic that you felt when you first played the Wii would come back at full force! BELIEVE~!

Or actually... you could completely deny such a thing exists, then when it comes out, be completely impressed and in awe.

The latter sounds like a better choice.

meist3r @ Jul 31st 2008 3:36PM

@SoshIKitai: I am also a follower of the great prophet Yahtzee-tsu :p

Timdogg @ Jul 31st 2008 12:35PM

That is a pretty impresive demonstration of what the Wiimotion can do...I am excited!

Garu @ Jul 31st 2008 12:55PM

Awesome! Apparently with this new device, we will be able to control bad 1980s music video graphics!

I Want My MTV!

Dylan F @ Jul 31st 2008 12:56PM

I agree. The second I heard about Wii MotionPlus, I thought Link's sword would be perfect for it.

And everyone, I don't think it is an actual game they are going to release, but a demo of the things we can do with WMP and gives an idea of what we can use with it.

Crustin @ Jul 31st 2008 1:30PM

Duh!

Thanks Captain Obvious!

Eddie @ Jul 31st 2008 2:21PM

No. I don't believe you.

YOU'RE NOT MY REAL DAD!!!!

Sorry. I'll be ok, just... give me a sec.

acefondu @ Jul 31st 2008 2:25PM

That was pretty badass.

leonus11 @ Jul 31st 2008 3:41PM

@ meist3r

whoa!! the motionplus is used so that the sensor bar better READS the movement of any player using the wiimote along side the motion plus. without the sensor bar it wouldn't know if the player is holding the wiimote to his/her lfet or his/her right. correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't it the wiimote that contains the accelometor? again correct me if i'm wrong.

meist3r @ Jul 31st 2008 3:52PM

I think you are mistaken. The Motion+ if you read about it contains a new kind of specialized accelerometer in addition to those in the Wiimote. That's what took them so long to develop so they couldn't put it into the Wiimote in the first place. The tracking is supposed to work as a 3D input and I would guess the motions are pretty similar from the sensors readings point of view regardless of left- or righthandedness. Like I said the sensor bar is only needed for fine pointing (in which case it already distinguishes between several remotes if you look at many party games or even SMGs "multiplayer".

Since the sensors give the hardware a virtual image of the Wiimotes position in space they should even be able to interpolate the cursor position from that sensor read-out alone. At least that is what I think should be the final result of this type of technology.